ABSTRACT
In Asia, especially East Asia it is culture, the Confucian culture of hard work, education, honor of family, order, and discipline, that is pushing these countries ahead, at miracle economic growth rates. But in the Middle East it is culture, the culture of the Koran, Sharia law, and Islam, that often retards development. The Arab Middle East is torn between its traditional culture and peoples, its modernizing elements, and those who have turned to radical Islamism. In the seventh century AD came Muhammed and the rise of Islam. In those days Islam was a particularly militant as well as militaristic religion. During much of this period, the Islamic world was the leader in science, mathematics, philosophy, and art, and not the West. In traditional Islamic society that meant mainly three groups: the mullahs or religious leaders, the bazari or shopkeepers, merchants and others who are part of the bazaar or souk, and the tribal or clan leaders.
